Type-writing machine.



v G. B. BRAND. TYPE WRITING MACHINE. nnuonmn rmm JULY18,1910.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTURL I ITNESSES:

M Q//fiaZ-Q M T-IIS ATTEJRNEY G. B. BRAND. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18, 1910. I 1,004,236, Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\A/|TNE55E5= INVENTEIRQ T-IIS ATTORNEY G. B. BRAND. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APF'LIQATION IILBD JULY 18 1910. Patented Sept. 26

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\A/ITNESSES: |NVENTDR= f 7" M I t I WWW 1-h5 ATTORNEY COLUMBIA rumoclum to WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED sTATns PATENT Tries.

GEORGE B. BRAND, OF SYRAGUSE,JNEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE MONARCH TYPE- WRITER COMPANY, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

Application filed July 18, 1910. Serial No. 572,504.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I GEORGE B. BRAND, a citizen of the United tates, and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type- VVriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to typewriting machines and more particularly to the type actions and case shift mechanism of such machines.

My invention has for its principal object to provide an improved printing mechanism for front strike typewriters in which each key is adapted to print a plurality of characters but each type bar carries only one type and the case shift mechanism predetermines which one of a plurality of type bars shall be operated when a key is depressed.

My invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all of which will be fully set forth herein and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front to rear vertical sectional view of so much of a front strike typewriter as is necessary to illustrate the embodiment of my invention therein. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation with the frame and some of the other parts in transverse vertical section. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the parts in operated position.

The main frame of the machine shown in the drawings, comprises a base 1, corner posts 2 and a top plate 3. Standards 4, rising from the top plate, support stationary rails 5 which are grooved to cooperate with anti-friction rollers 6 which run in said grooves and in companion grooves formed in a carriage 7 in which is mounted the platen 8. The main frame and carriage shown are substantially like those of the Monarch typewriter.

The type bars are divided into two sets consisting of shorter type bars 10 and longer type bars 11, said sets of type bars being mounted respectively on segments 12 and 13, these being secured to the underside of the top plate 3, the segment 12 being above or within and slightly nearer to the rear of the machine than the segment 13. The type bars are pivoted on these segments by means of ball bearings comprising rings 14: secured in the type bars and peripheral grooves 15 in the segments. The type bars of both sets normally rest against a pad 16and each of them carries at its free end a single type 17. I have not thought it necessary to illustrate the type bar system in minute detail as it is substantially identical with that ordinarily employed in the Smith Premier No. 10 typewriter and set forth in the patent to John H. Barr, No. 943,643, dated December 21st, 1909. It will of course be understood that any other suitable mode of mounting the type bars may be used in connection with my invention.

A fulcrum plate 18 is mounted in the base of the machine and the printing key levers 20 have elongated curved treads 21 which work against the underside of said fulcrum plate and each of said key levers carries at its forward end a printing key 22. The key levers are held up in normal position by restoring springs 23 and each of them has pivoted thereto at 24 a sub-lever 25 which, at its upper end, is connected by a link 26 with one of the type bars 10. Each of said sub-levers has a slot 27 at its lower end adapted to embrace and work on a fulcrum rod 28. The key levers with their rolling fulcra, sub-levers 25 and links 26 are similar in a general way to the corresponding parts of the Monarch typewriter. Each of said key levers, however, has mounted thereon a second sub-lever 3O pivoted to the key lever at 31 and having a slot 32 adapted to embrace a second fulcrumrod 33 and each of said sub-levers 30 is connected at its upper end by means of a link 34 with one of the longer type bars 11. The two sublevers 25 and 30 are preferably mounted on opposite sides of the key lever. The sublevers 30 have the general form of the Monarch sub-levers except that they are reversed; that is to say, the slot 32 faces the rear of the machine and the upper end of the sub-lever is drawn toward the front of the machine when a key is depressed and when the fulcrum rod 33 is in the slot 32. The links 34 extend from the heels of the type bars 11 forward and beneath the type bars instead of rearward and above the type bars as in the Monarch machine and as in the cases of the sub-levers 25.

Provision is made for alternatively engaging the fulcrum rods 28 and 33 with their respective series of slots 27 and 32. To this end the fulcrum rod 28 is not rigidly connected with the main frame but is mounted at the lower ends of two arms 35 depending from and rigidly secured to a rock shaft 36 which at its ends is pivoted in the side bars of the machine frame, so that the fulcrum rod 28 can be swung about the shaft 36 either into its operative position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 or forward to the inoperative position shown by broken lines in Fig. 1, in which latter position said rod is outside of the slots 27. The fulcrum rod 33 is likewise mounted on the lower ends of arms 37 depending from a rock shaft 38 pivoted in the base of the machine in front of the rock shaft 36. The two rods 28 and 33 are connected by a link 40 so as to cause them to move together and this link is of such length that when the rod 28 is in its operative position the rod 33 is drawn back to inoperative position, and vice versa. As here shown said link 40 at its rear end surrounds the rod 28 contiguous to the hub of one of the arms 35 and between said hub and a collar 41 fixed on the rod and it is similarly connected at its forward end with the rod 33.

The fulcrum rods are normally held in their rear position, in which the sub-levers 25 and type bars 10 are connected up to be operated, by means of a spring 42 connected at one end to a fixed part and at the other end to a post 43 secured to one of the arms 35. If desired, suitable means can be provided for regulating the tension of this spring. Said fulcrum rods are shifted to their forward positions to bring the type bars 11 into operation by means of a shift key 44 mounted on the forward end of a lever 45 extending toward the rear parallel with the printing key levers. I have also shown a shift-lock lever 46 mounted on a key lever 47 which lies parallel with the lever 45. The rock shaft 38 has an arm 48 extending therefrom toward the rear of the machine and a link 50 depending from said arm has in its lower end a cross pin 51 that projects both toward the right and toward the left from said link. The link 50 lies between the levers 45 and 47 and the pin 51 extends into vertical slots 52 in said levers, said slots being formed between two lugs 53 on each of the levers. The construction is such that if either key be depressed it will pull down on the link 50 and draw the fulcrum links forward to their shifted positions against the tension of the spring 42. If the key 44 be used the spring 42 will restore the parts to normal position as soon as the key is released. A lock is provided however to hold the key lever 46 down when it is depressed. This lock is of the sort commonly used on the l Ionarch machine and consists of a dog 54 pivoted at 55 to the side of the key lever 47 and having a weighted extension 56 which tends by its gravity to throw the upper end of the dog toward the front of the machine. Said dog normally rests against the rear end of a stiff spring plate 57 which is mounted by a screw 58 on a cross bar 60 of the main frame. The rear end of this plate is pressed down by an adjusting screw 61 threaded through the bar 60 and pressing against the upper surface of the plate. This screw is used to adjust the height of the spring plate 57 When the key lever 46 is depressed the dog 54 drops forward under the plate 57 and the key is thus held in its depressed position. In order to release this key the dog 54 is formed with a depending arm 62, the rear edge of which constitutes a sort of cam adapted to be operated by a pin 63 projecting from the side of the key lever 45. The construction is such that if the key lever 47 is locked down an operation of the key 44 will force the pawl 54 out from under the plate 57 through the action of the pin 63 on the part 62. It will of course be understood that another shift key and lever, similar to the key and lever 44 and 45, can be placed at the right-hand side of the keyboard if desired, and in fact such a construction is preferred, although it is r not shown in the drawlng.

The motion of the fulcrum rods in both directions is limited by means of a cross lever 64 mounted on one end of the shaft 36 and consisting essentially of two arms projecting one toward the front and the other toward the rear of said rock shaft. These arms are adapted to strike against the lower ends of adjustable stop screws 65 threaded through lugs 66 projecting from the base 1 of the main frame, said stop screws being provided with lock nuts 67.

In the specific embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, the links 34 do not extend directly toward the front of the machine but they do lie substantially in the planes in which their respective type bars swing, each of said links being set, however, at an inclination in its plane so as to avoid interference with the type bars.

As shown in Fig. 2 the upper ends of the sub-levers 30 may be substantially straight but near the sides of the system the links 34 have to be bent in order to bring them into the planes of their respective type bars. Each of the sub-levers 25 near the sides of the system, is bent inward at 68 so as to bring its upper end into the plane of its type bar. In Fig. 2 the sub-levers and links look more crowded than they really are be cause in that View the sub-levers 25 and 30 show side by side whereas as a matter of fact the sub-levers 30 are in front of the sub-levers 25 and there is ample room for all of the sub-levers and links.

By the construction shown and described it will be seen that I get a case shift that does not shift either the platen or the type bar basket nor any of the moving parts of the type action. The types thus always strike accurately at the printing point because both the platen and the type bars themselves are immovable in any case shift direction. I thus obviate the disadvantages both of the platen shift construction and of the segment shift construction. Moreover, the parts that are shifted are much lighter than either the platen and its frame or the type bar segments and connections. The resistance on the shift key is thus reduced to the minimum and this key can be operated with a much sharper blow and more quickly as well as more easily than in those constructions that employ either a segment shift or a platen shift.

It will of course be understood that when the rear fulcrum rod is inoperative position and a printing key is depressed, the corresponding sub-lever 25 is operated as shown inFig. 3. The sub-lever 30, mounted on the same key lever, is simply drawn back at its upper end by the link 34: and is functionless during this operation. If the fulcrum rods are in their shifted or forward position when a key is struck, the operation is just the reverse; that is to say, the sub-lever 30 is operated and the sub-lever 25 moves idly with the key lever without aflecting the type bar 10.

Various changes can be made in the details of construction and arrangement without departing from my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a series of type bars; a series of levers, one lever connected with each type bar; a series of keys, each key connected with a plurality of said levers, and means for shifting the fulcrums of said levers to operative or inoperative positions with relation to said levers.

2. In a typewriting machine; the combination of a series of type bars; a series of levers, one lever connected with each type bar; a series of keys, each key connected with a plurality of said levers, and means for connecting certain only of said levers at a time with their fulcrums.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a series of type bars; a series of levers, one lever connected with each type bar; a series of keys, each key connected with a plurality of said levers, and means for causing said levers to turn alternatively about their fulcrums when the keys are operated,

the remaining levers being left free to move without operating the type bars.

4:. In a typewriting machine, the combi nation of a series of type bars; a series of levers, one lever connected with each type bar; a series of keys, each key connected with a plurality of said levers, and means for rendering the fulcrums of the levers for each key operative or inoperative alternatively..

5. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a plurality of sets of type bars, a plurality of sets 'of levers, one such lever connected with each type bar, a series of keys, one lever of each set being connected with each key, and means for rendering the fulcrums of the different sets of levers operative alternatively.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a plurality of sets of type bars, a plurality of sets of levers, one such lever connected with each type bar, a series of keys, one lever of each set being connected with each key, a plurality of fulcrum rods, one for each set of levers, and means for shifting said fulcrum rods into and out of cooperation with the sets of levers alternatively.

7. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a plurality of sets of type bars, a plurality of sets of levers, one such lever connected with each type bar, a series of keys, one lever of each set being connected with each key, and a shiftable frame comprising a plurality of fulcrum rods, onerod for each set of levers, said frame when shifted to one position having one only of said fulcrum rods in cooperative relation with its set of levers and when in another position having another fulcrum rod in like relation with another set of levers.

8. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a series of key levers, a series of sub-levers in two sets, one sub-lever of each set being pivoted to each key lever, a series of type bars, one connected with each sublever, and shiftable fulcrums for said sub levers, whereby one only of the two sublevers connected with each key lever is operative at a time.

9. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a series of key levers, a series of sub-levers in two sets, one sub-lever of each set being pivoted to each key lever, and each of said sub-levers having an open slot, a series of type bars, one connected with each sub-lever, two shiftable fulcrum rods, and means for shifting said rods to bring one rod into the slots of the sub-levers of one set and the other rod into the slots of the other set alternatively.

10. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a series of type bars, a series of sub-levers, one connected with each type bar, a series of key levers each having two of said sub-levers connected therewith, aswinging frame comprising two fulcrum rods for said sub-levers arranged so that when said frame is in one position one of said rods engages one of the sub-levers of each key lever and when said frame is in another position the other of said rods engages the other sublevers, a spring for holding said frame in one of said positions, and a shift key for moving said frame to the other of said positions.

11. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a series of type" bars, a series of sub-levers, one connected with each type bar, a series of key levers each having two of said sub-levers connected therewith, two fulcrum rods for said sub-levers, two rock shafts from which said rods are respectively suspended, means for causing said fulcrum rods to swing in unison, and means for moving one of said fulcrum rods into engagement with one of the sub-levers of each key lever or for moving the other fulcrum rod into engagement with the remaining sublevers.

12. In a typewriting machine, the combination of two sets of front strike type bars, two sets of sub-levers, one set of sub-levers being arranged to operate the type bars of one set by pulling toward the back of the machine and the other set of sub-levers being arranged to operate the other set of type bars by pulling toward the front of the machine, a set of key levers, each key lever being connected with a sub-lever of each of said sets of sub-levers, and fulcrums for said sub-levers shiftable to make either set of sub-levers operative.

13. In a typewriting machine, the combination of two sets of type bars, two sets of sub-levers, the sub-levers of one set having permanent connections with the type bars of one set and the sub-levers of the other set having permanent connections with the type bars of the other set, a set of key levers, the fulcrum of said sub-levers being connectible and disconnectible from said sub-levers, and case shift mechanism including means for rendering the sub-levers of said two sets alternatively operative by the operation of said key levers.

14. In a typewriting machine, the combination of two type bars, one key lever carrying two sub-levers connected one to each of said type bars, and shiftable fulcra for said sub-levers whereby said key lever may at will operate either of said type bars without operating the other.

Signed at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, and State of New York, this fifteenth day of July, A. D. 1910.

v GEORGE B. BRAND.

Witnesses E. R. BUTLER, CLARENCE A. DE LAND. 

